[tor-bugs] #21010 [Applications/Tor Browser Sandbox]: Disable RDTSC/RDTSCP to limit side-channel attacks

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki blackhole at torproject.org
Sat Dec 17 17:05:03 UTC 2016


#21010: Disable RDTSC/RDTSCP to limit side-channel attacks
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 Reporter:  cypherpunks                       |          Owner:  yawning
     Type:  enhancement                       |         Status:  new
 Priority:  High                              |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser Sandbox  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                            |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                                    |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                                    |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                    |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by yawning):

 > Is there a reason that timing attacks against ASLR is the primary issue
 in the Tor Browser Sandbox's threat model, rather than any other number of
 attacks made possible by RDTSC and RDTSCP?

 No, everything else is valid, it's just that, I looked into it after
 reading papers on the subject (what, am I not allowed to provide
 historical context)?

 I'm somewhat worried that RDTSC use ends up depending on distribution, and
 what the user is doing.  Maybe I'm being overly paranoid here...

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/21010#comment:5>
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